Psychedelic Risks

When this happens, this is news and, uh, news is what, uh, has given L.S.D. its current reputation.

Particular concern was caused by a widely-publicised, but subsequently discredited, report that L.S.D. might damage chromosomes.

Lurid parallels were drawn with thalidomide. Other dangers, however, were real enough.

Twenty years on, we're better able to assess the true risks of L.S.D.

The co-ordinator of the Government-funded Standing Committee On Drug Abuse is David Turner.

There's no doubt that there are exagerrations about L.S.D. but there are very real risks,

which are increased when you've got illicit manufacture.

Exaggeration was commonplace as public debate about the dangers and value of L.S.D. intensified.

Scores of books and hundreds of scientific articles appeared and for a while psychedelic drugs became a cause celebre.

... one of the US Government's chief advisors on psychedelic drugs.

Well, L.S.D. ...

They are done almost never under control in supervised conditions. They happen when people take it casually and randomly.

Twenty years on, we have been able to assess the true risks of L.S.D. The coordinator of the government-funded standing committe on drug abuse is David Turner.

There's no doubt that there are exagerrations about L.S.D. but there are very real risks,

which are increased when you've got illicit manufacture. The risks are around people having bad trips, that they experience very unpleasant and very intense feelings ...